Padraig Lenihan and the 17th Century in Ireland

In our discussion of 20th century Irish nationalism, we often talk about Irish nationalism springing from the Irish Catholic identity – a sense of past wrongs that needed to be righted.

But where did this sense of collective injustice come from? Where, moreover, did the idea of being “Irish” as something fundamentally and intrinsically hostile to something else called “British” come from?

Many would trace these ideas back to the 1600s, when war, land confiscation and religious conflict left enduring legacies in the Irish memory.

Where, moreover, did the idea of being “Irish” as something fundamentally and intrinsically hostile to something else called “British” come from?

(You can listen to a very interesting interview by Cathal Brennan with historian Michael O Siochru on the 1641 Rebellion here)

This was brought to an end though when Oliver Cromwell, on behalf of the English Parliament, smashed Catholic and Royalist resistance in a brutal but effective campaign in 1649-53. In the aftermath of the war, almost all Catholic land was confiscated and granted to Protestant settlers.

(For an excellent collection of articles about Ireland’s participation in the Civil Wars of the 1640s, see the Irish archive of this website)

Catholics received some redress after the Restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, but their big chance for over-turning the Cromwellian settlement came when James II, a Catholic monarch came to power.

Thanks for this.
Was the second part of this interview supposed to cut out at 6:58 when Padraig starts to answer your question about our relationship now to the issues of 17thC Ireland? Was this a tech problem? If so pity, as it sounded like it was going to get real interesting.

[…] Gilbert said that depositions were taken under threat of torture, apparently:- A contemporary history of affairs in Ireland, from 1641 to 1652. (Open Library) And this work.. a PhD thesis recently published…… is highly regarded:- Padraig Lenihan and the 17th Century in Ireland | The Irish Story […]